Vehicle-spring.



No. 857,383. 1 PATENTED JUNE 1a, 1907.

c. BURGESS, JR.

VEHIOLE SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED 11.14. 1901.

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No. 857.383- I PATENTED JUNE 18, 1907.

0. BURGESS, JR-

VEHICLE SPRING.

TION N. 1 AYPLIGA FILED IA 4 1907 v 28HEBT8 SHEBT 2.

N. I N)\ i2. mas-ea,

UNIT D sTATEs CHARLES BURGESS,-

PATENT. OFFICE." f

OF WE No A, ILLINOIS.

VEHICLE-SPRING.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES BURGESS, Jr.,

a citizen of the. United. States, residing at l Wenona, in the county of Marshall andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in. Vehicle Springs, of

which the following is aspecification. I

The invention relates in for any type of vehicle, such as railway cars half or full elliptic, in.

the same tension below the horizontal 'line the horizontal line there of without impairing its elasticity, resiliency or the like, and it is especially adapted for use upon automobiles wherea -rough or uneven surface is traversed peed e A The object of the invention is to provide a straight spring, that is, a bar spring, although laminations' may be used on either side of the bar, which is distinguished from the ordinary form of elliptic s ring, either that it a ways affords at ahigh rate of of the axle as above or strength. I

Among the many advantages accomplished by this form of construction, which serves equally well for what is commonly known as a shock resister as for a spring, is that it prevents the car from having a lunge either forward or backward; sidewise distortion of the the frame being brokenaway inte'rmeel'ia its length Fig. 2 is a'modified'formjof 'c' struction, Fig. 3 is detailedview of one jof the depending hangers on the frame; vFig. 4 is a perspective elevation longitudinal sectional elevation cylinders; Fig. 16 is av longitudinal sectional plan of one ofthe'cylinders, and showing the, to the spring;

and "Fig; 7 is a cross-section on line 8 -8.'- of 'Fig.1'6.-

springs, and restrains the carbody from r'ebounding in that the tension of the buffer springs constantly tend to straighten out the main spring which permits at no time afree spring construction.

There are many other detailed advantages of the structure which will be morefully described, and are shown in theagwman g- I drawings in which, 1

Figure :1 is aside elevationof'myfspr n constructionapplied to the frame ofa ye taming the alinement of leaves upon the mainspring; Fig: isa

methodiof securing the piston Referring now more hav ng the depending Specification of Letters Patent.

The axle general to springs of a clip for main-g the lamina'tions or';

of one of the particularly. to the, drawings, 9. represents the frame of a-vehiclei hangers 10, in the} Patented June 18, 1907'.

- Application filed January 14, i907. Serial No. 352,239.

.preferred form, formed integral therewith,

spring required, which is determined according to the static weight of the car body, or theimaxi'mum weight of the car body according to the preferred form of computing what the strength of any spring should be. laminations are interposed on either side of the main or'central spring 121 .provide the same with straps 16 which are preferably formed integral therewith, and on either side thereof through which vertical guides 17 are slidably mounted, having eyes 18 at either end thereof'inwhich the roller bearings 19 are journaled and are normally in contact Withthe upper and lower leaves. When the spring is deflected there is a movement of the laminations either forward or backward longitudinally of the main spring, and by the employment of the vertical bars thelamina tions or leaves are kept-in alinement during this movement and'are greatly assisted by the roller bearings which eliminate .the friction betweenthe leaves to a great extent.

1g; 3, wherein they are provided with the nding lugs 20 between which a cylinder i which passes 10', they are preferably constructed, as shown This construction gives vertical rocking movecylinder-2l-is constructed similar to the ordinar'ypylinder in that it hasa head 24 secured tojone"en'd thereof by means of the bolts 25, as wellasj a head 26 secured to its other end by means'ofthe bolts 27, the head 26 being -1 apertured to receive I -;thr0ugh which the piston rod 29 is adapted 1' to slide.- Adjustably-inounted upon the pis- ;ton rod 29is the piston head 30, the adjusta packing ring 28 eyes at the lower portions of the dethe aper-- jtured'slng 23 preferably formed integralwith the cylinder casing: .the cylinder a free ment between thedepending lugs 20. The

pending entirely upon the strength of the Referring now to the depending hangers a able feature being accomplished'by means of n the piston 'rod being threaded, as at hereinafter described, and to prevent rotaw tionof the piston headwithin the cylinder I provide the same with a key 34 that is preferably formed integral therewith and adapted to co-operate with a key-way or slot 35 formedwithinthe casing of the cylinder. Interposed between the piston head and the head 26' of the cylinder is a buffer spring 36, anditis not essential that I confine myself to the use of one buffer spring as many may be employed according to the dimensions of the cylinder as well as the desired tension required; the size or number of buffer springs being, governed entirely by the end tension sought to be procured and in the accompanying drawing I have therefore only shown one buffer spring interposed between the aforementioned parts. i

The constructionjust described is the form of cylinder that is used upon the forward end of each spring, but it is essential to a perfect spring construction, to afford the best'resiliency without being too flexible to provide on the rear end of each spring a cylinder con structed of slightly different form, which is as follows: interposed between the cylinder head 30 andthe head 24 there is a spring 37, and possibly an additionalspring 38, according to the tension required, which normally 3 5 ress the cylinder head away from the iiead 24. This spring or series of springs are placed at the rear endof each main spring of .the vehicle for the reason that when an obstruction is encountered in the road, such as a mound or the like or going through a heavy mud, the tendency would be to force theaxle rearwardly andunless the'spring 36 in the forward cylinder was of exceptional strength the axles might be forced out of alinement, which would impair greatly the driving eiiti-, ciency of a car, such as a motor vehicle, if the forward and rear axles are not maintained in perfect alinement. i r Fig. 6 shows the form of cylinder and buffer spring construction that is used at t e forward end of each s ring, (the forward end as used throughout t 1e specification meaning the forward end of the vehicle), while the structure as showninFig. 5-is the'form of cylinder that, in the preferred form, I employ at the rearward end of each spring. The 1s-.

ton-rod of each cyllinder extends out and eyond the pistonthe socket. joint 39 adapted to co-operate with the ball joint 40 formed at either end of the main spring 12, and to further make a construction wherein thevpiston rod and the spring are rigidly secured together I provide ears 41 upon the piston rod 29 that are prefe 6 5 erably formed integral therewith and extend Vmovementbetween-the piston rod and sp '12,-'while the ball'and socket joint-preve" s"; -.any longitudinal movement relative; t 1"" tice, is provided with four s ringsead and is provided with both above and below the horizontal thespring 12 The earsare suitablyflapen, tured, as shown at 42, to receive bolts 43 that a e in erposed both above and -be"w ;,t }i

spring 12 and thereby prevents Myanmar other. The vehicle, as is the'gener 1 either end of its respective ax es, an('l"; con quently in my construction eight cylinder are employed for each vehicle, the cylinc as shown in Fig; 5 being used-for the reap-3 ward set of cylinders for each aXle,. a'I1 d the cylinder as shown in Fig. 6 being employed for the. forward set of cylinders for each'axle. Each cylinder is provided with an oil plug 44' in order that oil may be inserted within the cylinder which not only serves as a lubrication but also acts as a fluid brake therein, and in Fig. 7 I have shown by the dotted lines 45 oil within the same. It is obvious that the cylinder is not completely filled with oil, but only a small amount being used, and upon a forward or backward movement of the piston headthe oil is forced on'either side thereof through the longitudinal aperture orsluice 33. From the foregoing description-it can be readily seen that my construction affords an exceptionally resilient s ring construction wherein the spring may be flexed on either side of the horizontal line of the axle, and have the sametension flexed downward as when flexed upward, the tendency of the buffer springs being to always center the main spring in itsvvibrating movement and thereby the objectionable feature of the ordinary spring construction is done away with in that when the elliptic spring is employed when an obstruction is encountered the elliptic spring is compressed and tends to rebound and throw the body of the. vehicle upward, but in the construction herein shown the buffer springs constantly tend to center the 1 io main-spring and there is no point during the vibrating movement that there is a free ICC r spring, meaning a spring without tension.

Furthermore, when any slight obstruction is encountered in the road the shock is absorbed by the buffer spring in the forward cylinders, v

and consequentlyis' not'trans'mitted to the frame of the vehicle in a vertical manner,- but only in a slight longitudinal manner; When a heavier obstruction is encountered by the wheel of the vehicle the; spring member--12 will be flexed 11 Ward compressing the buffer; springs, and w en the obstruction is'passedover the buffer s rings will tend to immedi 1 ately straighten the main spring and stop the 1'2 5 vibrationthereof. i

In Fig. 2 a modified form of construction is shown wherein instead of employing the straight spring '12 I substitute the two rigid bars 45 and 46 which are connected to the straight spring or an elliptic spring 48 that 1s interposed above the casing 47 and ar-' ranged transversely relative to the vehicle frame. By this construction a much less amount of spring metal maybe employed for the reason that the transversely arranged springs need not be very large, and the buffer springs are of a stronger type than those ordinarily used in the construction previously described, but my preferred form of invention is the construction herein more fully nor do I limit myse f construction,

shown.

It islobvious from the foregoing description that I do not limit myself to a construction wherein .the rear cylinders are provided with springs 37 for the cylinders and the springs therein ma all be constructed alike,

to a construction wherein the cylinders are mounted to rock upon the frame, this construction being simply the preferred form and one that eliminates considerable friction that wouldcome upon the piston rod if the cylinders were rigidly atjoint tached to the frame and, a universal connection made between the piston rod and the ends of a spring inside of therigid connection as herein shown, and therefore without confining myself to the exact details of Iclaimz' ,1. In a sprlng construction for a vehicle,

the combination of an axle, a frame, a spring secured between its ends to; said axle and lying in a horizontal secured to said frame and to the ends of Sand spring, the longitudinal axial line of said plane and buffer sprin s spring-and buffer s rings being in the-same horizontal plane, su

stantially as described. '1

2. v In a spring construction for a vehicle, the combination of an axle, a frame, a spring secured between its ends'to said axle, rocking cylinders secured to said frame, pistons with-1 in said cylinders-connected to the. ends of said spring, pistons, the springs being outward from the ends of said sprin substantiallyas described.

and buffer springs backing said normal tension of said buffer,

3. n a spring construction for a vehicle,

the combination of an axle, a frame, a sprin secured between its ends'to said axle, an

lying in a horizontal plane,-rocking cylinders secured to said frame and lying in the same horizontal plane as said spring-pistons within said cylinders rigidly connected to the ends of said spring, and buffer springs backing said-pistons, the normal tension of said buffer 4. n a spring construction for a vehicle, the comblnation of an axle, aframe, a s

ada ted to contain oil, piston rods within sai cylinders having piston heads each pro-- vided with a longitudinal aperturefor the springs surrounding. said piston rods, the opposite ends of said springs being rigidly con: nected to said piston rods, substantially as described. i 1

5. The combination with a sprin comprising a series of leaves, of vertic'a guide postsslidably mounted on both sides thereof,

earings journaled said ide posts and in contact with the outer su aces of the u P I havmg its central portlon'secured tothe axle, rocking cylinders secured to saidframe and per springs being outward from the ends of said sprin substantially as described.

passage of oil on either side thereof, buffer l and lower leaves of said spring, substantially as described.

Witnesses: -FREDERIOK C..GO0DWIN,

JAMES R. OFFIELD.

CHARLES BURGESS, JR. j 

